Comments / New

Anaheim Ducks @ Los Angeles Kings Game 74 Recap: Duck Hunt! Kings win in the shootout 4-3

Posted on by Michael Lloyd

120-Word Recap

In a lost season where nothing has gone right, one bright spot has emerged: the Anaheim Ducks cannot beat the Kings. Anze Kopitar scored the only goal in the shootout, and the Kings beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 for their third win this season over their Southern California rivals.

Kyle Clifford (9), Jeff Carter (12), and Carl Grundstrom (3) scored for the Kings, who have won back-to-back games after dropping 16 of their previous 18. Jonathan Quick made 17 saves and stopped all three shootout attempts. Anaheim had won seven of its previous 11 games.

Ryan Getzlaf and Nick Ritchie sat out with upper-body injuries, while Corey Perry played less than 11 minutes. Ilya Kovalchuk and Dion Phaneuf were healthy scratches for the Kings

Coach’s Corner: What Willie Desjardins Did Wrong Tonight

As he did before the San Jose Sharks game on Thursday, Willie messed it all up long before this puck dropped too…

  • The disdain for 11 forwards / 7 defensemen configuration has matriculated from these very recaps over to the Kings locker room and now the anger is bubbling out, and for good reason, mainly it’s asinine. Here are a few quotes that came out of Lisa Dillman’s The Athletic story earlier today:/

“It’s horrible,” said. “That’s the worst. But he (Desjardins) didn’t play young guys. He plays 7 D. That’s his new strategy. “What you can do? That’s his decision and he’s the head coach.” —Kovalchuk

“The one thing that was keeping me motivated throughout the whole process of being hurt was coming back in and getting my chance.” —Jonny Brodzinski

  • In reality, the only reason Jonny B or Kovalchuk would enter the lineup tonight is because Brendan Leipsic has to sit out because of a lower body injury. (That’s not a good look, Willie, especially when Jeff Carter [22 games without a goal when there’s a goalie defending the net], Tyler Toffoli [17 games without a goal], and Kurtis MacDermid [7th defenseman, 6:23 TOI average] continue to draw in.
  • Ladies and gentlemen. Don’t be tricked by the fool’s gold of a win against the Anaheim because, of course, we all hate the Ducks. However, the Kings are supposed to be playing the young guys and assessing their talent level. Instead Willie D. continues to overwork the “aging veteran core” and play the kids limited minutes:
    -Drew Doughty 26:31 TOI
    -Kopitar 25:49
    -Alec Martinez 22:26
    -Dustin Brown 22:21
    -Carter 19:26
    -Austin Wagner 10:04
    -Brodzinski 8:58
    -MacDermid 6:21
  • Note to Willie D.: These games are meaningless. Play the kids 20 minutes a night…they won’t break. Also, the Kings are in the fight for their lives to to have the best chance to draft Jack Hughes. Now is not the time to put a winning streak together. You should have figured that out 20 games ago when they still had a shot. /

The Game 74 Scoring

Ducks 1. Kings 0.

Ducks 1. Kings 1.

Kings 2. Ducks 1.
Goals in back-to-back games for Jeff Carter

Kings 2. Ducks 2.

Ducks 3. Kings 2.

Ducks 3. Kings 3.

Kings 4. Ducks 3.
Kopitar scores the only goal in the shootout to take down the Ducks.

It’s a Final!

Next: The Kings travel to Alberta to face the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Monday.

Quotables

Kovalchuk (prior to the game):

“…[a few] more games [with Desjardins as the interim head coach]. What else we can do. Just practice hard and show the young kids that that thing can happen to anybody. You just have to keep going.”

Games Until the Kings are Eligible for a New Head Coach: 8

Colin Hanks in the booth:

#LoseForHughes Update:

In a strange twist of winning over losing, all of the teams in the bottom five won on Saturday.

Final Words:

Talking Points